[BradyLS]

Along the hull were remnants of the ship’s forecastle and aftcastle, which provided shelter for the crew. Until now, archaeologists could not confirm that these “castles” even existed on such ships.

Where do they think the nautical terms forecastle (fo’c’sle) and sterncastle came from?

[Windcatcher]

I think what the author is (very poorly) saying is they weren’t certain such features were present on cogs (as opposed to something like a carrack, which definitely had them).

[DesertRhino]

From later designs.... they did not know those structures existed so early.

[Rockingham]

The terms originated in the medieval era.